Tags: 911, World Trade Center, WTC,
Ground Zero, Twin Towers, George Bush, terrorism, terrorists, Muslim, Islam, Saddam
Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, al-Qaida, Republican Guard, Iraq, Baghdad, Tikrit,
Afghanistan, Taliban, Gen Tommy Franks, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Colin Powell, Ronald
Reagan, Peace through Strength, Pax Romana, USS Abraham Lincoln, Mission Accomplished,
Commander in Chief, Rule of Law, China, North Korea, President Clinton, Oval Office, Nero
And even as liberal America was
encouraging Iraqi resistance to their sworn enemy President Bush, Remnants of the
Republican Guard and other Iraqi troops were gathering in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit
for their final stand. The traitor Arnett would have been proud.
Trouble continued in Baghdad. On April
12, its own people plundered the city. Robbing history itself, thieves, who turned out to
be museum employees pillaged the IraqNationalMuseum. They stole artifacts going back
thousands of years – predating even Babylon. “This is Iraq’s
civilization,” cried one museum employee. “This is just one of the most tragic
things that could happen for our being able to understand the past.”
In reaction to the citywide looting US
official dispatched the first batch of 1,200 American and judicial officers to put a lid
on the lawlessness.
Great news met the coalition on April 13
as marines rescued seven missing Americans who had been shuttled from one Iraqi jailer to
another. “I was getting to the point where I believed they would have killed
us,” said a relieved Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson after three weeks of captivity.
There was still a lot of cleaning up to
do throughout the country. Tikrit remained the last center of Saddam Loyalists and
fighting was intense. About 2,500 elite Saddam fighting forces remained in Saddam’s
home town. According to Capt. Stewart Upton the American troops were in the city and it
was “a battle.”
War commander Gen Tommy Franks also
revealed, “We have simply bypassed villages and towns and so forth. And now we will
go to each and every one of them, and be sure that we don’t have some last, small
stronghold in that country.” It was supposedly only for the mop-up crew now.
On April 14 Saddam’s hometown of
Tikrit easily fell. This was the last Iraqi city to succumb to the invincible US forces.
According to Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, “There was less resistance than we
anticipated.” In Baghdad, order began to take hold as US soldiers and a few Iraqi
police officers patrolled the streets for the first time. So, finally a senior Pentagon
general concluded that “major combat engagements” were probably over in the
26-day-old war.
Then, on April 15, the president made
his declaration stating that “the regime of Saddam Hussein is no more.” With
that easy victory in his hip pocket and a military occupation in Iraq, the president
turned his attention to hostile neighbors Iran and Syria who now were within a hair’s
breath of the mightiest military force in the history of the world.
However, Colin Powell assured that there
was “no war plan right now. . . We have concerns about Syria. We have let Syria know
of our concerns. We also have concerns about some of the policies of Iran. We have made
the Iranians full aware of our concerns. But there is no list to overthrow the leadership
of any other country in the region.”
But America had made its point. For the
first time since the ancient Roman Empire, a fighting force that was so superior to any
other on earth stood poised to control the world. President Reagan’s doctrine of
“Peace through Strength” was maturing as America began to bring its own version
of Pax Romana to the modern world. Indeed, modern Rome reigned supreme and uncontested, as
its ancient predecessor once did eons before.
It was on May 1, 2003 that President
Bush delivered his victory speech. Making history, the Commander in Chief landed in a
fighter jet on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln that had just returned from the war.
After the landing the president hopped out of the plane with a helmet tucked under his arm
and walked across the flight deck.
As the first president to ever land on
an aircraft carrier and fly a fighter jet he stood before the cheering sailors to deliver
his speech under a banner that read, “Mission Accomplished.” Visibly choked up
by the affair the president declared, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.
The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September 11, 2001 and
still goes on.
“We have removed an ally of
al-Qaida and cut off a source of terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist
network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because that regime is
no more.
“. . . Al-Qaida is wounded, not
destroyed. The scattered cells of the terrorist network still operate in many nations, and
we know from daily intelligence that they continue to plot against free people. The
proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious danger. The enemies of freedom are not
idle, and neither are we.”
While promising to be a “loyal
friend” to any nation that would help in America’s anti-terrorist campaign the
president pledged, “Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorists groups, and seeks
or possesses weapons of mass destruction, is a grave danger to the civilized world, and
will be confronted.
“. . . In the battle of Afghanistan,
we destroyed the Taliban, many terrorists, and the camps where they trained. We continue
to help the Afghan people lay roads, restore hospitals and educate all their children. Yet
we also have dangerous work to complete.
“And as I speak, a special
operations task force, led by the 82nd Airborne, is on the trail of terrorists, and those
who seek to undermine the free government of Afghanistan. America and our coalition will
finish what we began.
“. . . We are helping to rebuild Iraq,
where the dictator built palaces for himself instead of hospitals and schools for people.
The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every
effort.
“. . . From Pakistan to the Philippines
to the Horn of Africa, we are hunting down al-Qaida killers.
“. . . The war on terror is not
over, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the
turning of the tide.
During former President Clinton’s
political troubles that resulted from his sexual exploits, he attempted to create wars
against Iraq in order to deflect the national attention off of himself. His exploites
against Hussein were only done to save his political neck. Of course, none of it worked
and nothing was done to dispose of the tyrant. President Clinton was so busy chasing after
skirts that he could not lead. This was quite a different resolution to the Saddam Hussein
problem. America finally had a real president who could accomplish real things.
And make no mistake about it. America
had become the undisputed military power of the world. And the Iraqi campaign proved it.
The world could now cower in fear, as America’s enemies waited to see who the next
victim of the mighty military machine would be. It appeared that Pax Romana was at hand,
and America would stand above all other nations as the undisputed leader and perhaps ruler
of the modern world. No time in history since the Roman Empire had a country become so
dominant. No time since the ancient world had Western military forces taken hold of the Middle
East to bring peace to the region. Was this the advent of a new Rome? Was the world
beginning to see the ten toes begin to support the great statue from Babylonian King
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?
Iraq was built upon the fertile ground
of civilization’s beginnings between the Tigris and EuphratesRivers. This area, once
the home of the Garden of Eden and eventually the great Babylonian empire finally saw
itself under the hand of a new fortress of peace. Pax Romana, now enforced by the United
States of America had become the ultimate goal of world civilization. The glory of Rome
now was finding its place in the 21st century in the heart of the American people.
But even as America now shared in the
glories of Rome’s vision of world wide Pax Romana she was equally distressed by her
problems. Modern Rome’s borders had become porous as the nation was filled with
people who did not respect America’s founding beliefs, traditions and way of life as
previous generations had. New religions and humanistic-atheistic thoughts were replacing
the Christian religion that the country was founded on. Morality was veering to the left
to take on a moral-less tone. Families were falling apart under the pressure of new views
of women, sexuality and the like. Child sacrifice and elderly suicide was replacing the
dignity and respect for life. Violence reigned supreme everywhere you looked. Once safe
cities had become harbors of crime and terrorism. In the name of environmentalism, lizards
and bugs had been made more important than people. The myth of global warming as caused by
humans (especially SUV’s) threatened American financial welfare. Welfare payments
dominated the national and state budgets. The socialist dogma continued to make inroads
into American society as the government continued to grow beyond the nation’s
capacity to support it. Taxes continued to climb. The great laws of the country were being
supplanted by lawlessness. The legal stability of the nation along with the well-being of
business was being threatened by the activities of trial lawyers who sought to fill their
pockets by subverting the law. The constitutional rights of individuals had been trampled
upon while make belief rights for special liberal interest groups (such as homosexuals)
were conjured up and protected. Christianity increasingly came under persecution by the
government of the United States. Christian influence in government increasingly was pushed
towards the back isle in American life. Christian’s were blamed for the nation’s
ills. They were labeled terrorists. In order to turn the nation’s youth away from America’s
Christian path, respect for the Founding Fathers and Western/American history was fading
amid the sea of revisionism. Child sacrifice reigned supreme. The nation’s schools
had been given over to atheistic/liberal indoctrination. Many with the appetite for
political power had replaced the Rule of Law with disrespect for the Constitution. The
world had become a more dangerous place to dwell in. America’s security was
undermined in the name of making deals with her enemies. The nation’s military was
left dilapidated. One World government in the form of the UN had been allowed to gather
strength at the expense of national sovereignty. The republic was slowly disintegrating.
This was the legacy the President
Clinton left behind. It was a brave new world for America, one that was far less secure in
a world that was exceedingly more dangerous. While President Clinton frolicked with
interns, China and North Korea developed nukes. While President Clinton played in the Oval
Office terrorism gathered its strength. While President Clinton fiddled with his cigar,
enemies of the state poured into the nation’s porous borders, ready to strike out at
the freedom that America enjoyed for centuries.
With the advent of George W. Bush it
appeared that a glimmer of hope for national righteousness loomed on the horizon. With his
hand twisted by President Clinton’s negligence, President Bush was forced to utilize
American military might to fight to preserve freedom for future generations. . . and a new
world-wide mission for Pax Romana was underway.
However, what if such a powerful
political and military might came into the hands, once again, of the likes of William
Clinton or worse? It was only a few hundred votes that kept America away from the
liberalism of Al Gore. And where would the nation be if that had occurred? Where would it
be if such a brand of lawlessness took the helm of America once again?
Would the world see the likes of Nero as
it never had seen before? And what would be the fate of such a super power if it once
again fell in the hands of an immoral charlatan who consumed himself with the acquisition
of power and the fulfillment of his lusts? What would become of the world under the
undisputed leadership of another liar who not even think twice about blaming and
persecuting Christians in order to escape judgment? That was the condition of the ancient
world under Nero. Nero’s reign resurrected in the modern world could spell the end.
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast. . . (Rev 13a niv)
Only the future could tell the end to
the American story.
Don Wigton
is a graduate of the prestigious music department at CSULB where he studied under Frank
Pooler, lyricist of Merry Christmas Darling, and sang in Pooler’s world renown
University Choir alongside Karen and Richard Carpenter. During this time Don was also the
lead composer of the band, Clovis Putney, that won the celebrated Hollywood Battle of the
Bands. After giving his life to God, Don began attending Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa to
study under some of the most prominent early Maranatha! musicians. Subsequently he toured
the Western United States with Jedidiah in association with Myrrh Records.
Eventually
Don served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Bakersfield to witness thousands of salvations
through that ministry. As the music/concert director, Don worked for seven years with most
major Christian artist of that time while producing evangelical concerts attended by
thousands of young people seeking after God. Don’s Calvary Chapel Praise Choir
released the album Let All Who Hath Breath Praise the Lord on the Maranatha! label.
The next
years of Don’s life were spent as the praise leader of FirstBaptistChurch in Bakersfield
during a time of unprecedented church renewal. Don teamed with the leadership to
successfully meld the old with the new through a period of tremendous church growth.
During this exciting time, Don’s praise team, Selah, produced the CD Stop and
Think About It.
Today Don is
the leading force behind Wigtune Company. This
webbased project located at www.praisesong.net has provided several million downloads of
Don’s music and hymn arrangements to tens of thousands of Christian organizations
throughout the world. More music can be found at Don's Southern
Cross Band website at www.socrossband.com.
The book Holy
Wars represents Don’s most recent effort to bless the church with biblical
instruction and direction in praise and worship. This heartfelt volume is an offering not
only to God’s people, but also to God Himself.
An Incredible revival is occuring
in Northern India and Nepal. CLICK
HERE to find out more!
More Wigtune Blogs
This second of five books looks into a pivotal moment in American
history that corrupted her soul. It was a time when the United States was coming off an
era of prosperity created by the sound economic policies, patriotism and faith of Ronald
Reagan. However, during the '90s a president without scruples took the reigns of a house
united and tore it asunder. As a result we live in a divided America
on the brink of judgment.
Click Here to
purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
We pray that these materials have provided
all of you with untold blessings!
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ratings to so many songs before. But the fact is that they are well deserved
because the music is amazing. Simply wonderful religious ballads and they
really get to your heart. . .everytime." Fredrik Cole: Trax In Space
was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing.
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was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing. 
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